James Harden closed the door on the 2017-18 MVP race with a scintillating 42-point performance in Portland on 13-of-25 shooting as the Rockets (57-14) ended the Blazers' 13-game winning streak with a 115-111 victory. - With the win, the Rockets effectively increased their lead over Golden State (53-18) to five games, considering the tiebreaker, for the West's No. 1 seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. - Though Portland's backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum vowed "no easy layups" going into the game, they were substantially outplayed by Harden and Chris Paul (22/8/6). Houston's backcourt combined for 64 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists on 19-of-41 shooting, while the Portland duo combined for just 28 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds on 9-of-32 shooting. - Our postgame show breaks down those storylines and much more, including the importance of Houston building even more confidence with an enormous road win; key minutes from Gerald Green off the bench in the second half, and why the 5-game lead with 11 to play is probably large enough for Mike D'Antoni to begin resting players now that the Rockets are back in Houston for eight of their next nine games. - #Rockets #NBA #Blazers - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices